Assassin's Creed: Children of Eden
by EillahAmethyst
Summary: The memories of Altair are not what they appear to be. The problem is not from a faulty perspective, but rather from someone who masked the memories to hide the real truth.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everyone, and welcome to a new fanfiction I am writing for Assassin's Creed! If you follow my other story Perception do not worry I shall be posting chapters again as soon as possible, and there will also be an explanation for unvolunteer leave of absence from the site for the past year as well (but I never stopped writing). Anyway the short story of how this writing came to be was…lets just say I have way too much time to think now. Anyway hope you enjoy the story, and don't be afraid to comment and what not. Enjoy!**

" _Memories are not the key to the past, but to the future."_

 _-Corrie Ten Boom_

Part 1: Masked Memories

Chapter 1:

This was a nightmare of the worst kind.

Warren Vidic sat at his desk, and scanned through the memory data that he and Miss Stillman had collected months prior from Mr. Miles.

Lucy Stillman and Desmond Miles

He couldn't even think of those names without seeing red from the corners of his eyes. Warren clasped his fingers together tightly causing the aged skin wrapped around the bone to whiten from the sudden pressure, and fought the urge to knock both monitors off his desk.

Desmond was nothing to him; just a tool as a way of collecting information for his employers. He was disposable once his purpose had been served, but it was Lucy's betrayal that angered Warren the most.

He had read through her research and findings and knew she had potential to work with Abstergo. Not only was Lucy so damned brilliant but she was not meek like most of the women who found themselves pursing a career in the scientific industry. Lucy was never afraid to state her fact based opinions, or to be put down by those who identified as her superior. It was her brilliance and her guile that Warren chose her to work side by side on the Animus project; she was simply the best of the best out of every candidate he had researched that year.

It was not so much the loss of her intelligence that upset him, but the fact that she was secretly working alongside the Assassin's the entire time. Within the past two years that he and Lucy had spent working together on the Animus project he had come to think of her as his own daughter (or niece). Her deception had hurt Warren more in a familial way rather than a professional manner, and that Lucy had run off with Desmond only added salt to Warren's bitter feelings.

Warren rubbed the exhaustion away from his tired eyes and reminded himself to forget all about Lucy, Miss Stillman. He had to remember that the entire orchestration of their escape was her doing, and that Mr. Miles only followed as instructed of him. It was not he who convinced Lucy to join the side of the Assassin's. She chose her path and Warren had chosen his. He could always find someone else to replace Miss Stillman in the work of the Animus project.

Warren reluctantly went back to his work; watching the memories of Altiar play out on monitor one while monitor two pulled up the translated conversations and spoken languages from the memories.

"God damn it!" Warren muttered under his breath as he scanned through the memories. "What did we miss?"

On top of Lucy's treachery all the hard work they had spent collecting Desmond's ancestral memories had been in vain. As it turns out there was one small problem with the Apple.

The damn thing would not work.

A few days ago a field agent who had been tailing Lucy, Desmond, and their fellow Assassin's came back with a report simply stating: "It would not work. The device-the artifact-It worked when the subject from the Animus project held it, but when the other Assassin's tried to wield it nothing happened."

The report sounded strange to Warren; How can an artifact be choosy with its possessor?

None the less Warren's employer's demanded a hasty solution with the limited time that they had been granted.

The report had also stated that Mr. Miles was now in some form of coma and that Lucy had been hospitalized due to an injury of some sort (it was this part of the report that Warren had briefly skimmed over).

"If I don't find something, and soon, I'm fucked." Warren grumbled, eyes never leaving the monitors.

"I don't understand." He said, frustration rising, "the damn thing worked for Al Mualim, Altair, and Desmond. What did they do to make it work?"

Blood relation was a factor before being quickly dismissed. Abstergos' genetics research team proved that there was no blood ties between Al Mualim and Altair's descendants. So there had to be something else that allowed these men to wield the Apple.

But what?

Warren felt as though his eyes were going to fall from their sockets as they continued to watch the memories play out; he was contemplating turning in his resignation paperwork when his eye caught something.

"What the…" Warren quickly paused the memory. Luckily for him Abstergo had developed a way to view memories as though he were watching a movie, and have the benefit of fast-forwarding and backtracking certain areas of the memory as though they were frames in a film.

Warren was sure he saw something; he backtracked the memory just a few seconds and replayed it. For a fraction of a second there was a glitch in the memory. This time Warren backtracked the memory by a few frames until he saw what he thought at first was his eyes giving out on him, but there she was.

"Who the hell?..." Showing on the screen of monitor one, for barely the span of a micro second, was the image of a young girl. Clad in what appeared to be the traditional robes that younger Assassin's would wear for the time period, she looked to be of Western European descent rather than Middle Eastern with her ice pale skin, bright blond hair, and eiry golden eye color, boring the expression of someone who had just been caught and was now cornered.

What really through Warren off was the fact that she did not appear in any of the memory banks, and while she was on monitor one for her brief moment monitor two did not show any translated spoken word.

There was no name and no information on her character.

She was just there.

Warren felt he might be on to something.

For the next five hours Warren scanned through Altairs memories, checking every glitch he found within them, and within each glitch Warren checked the same girl appeared for the briefest of moments before quickly vanishing into the air.

As Warren began to recheck the memories to make sure that he was not seeing things he began to notice a pattern that was too coincidental to just be overlooked.

"Son of a bitch!" Warren muttered taking out his cell phone and quickly dialing his superior's number.

He was greeted with a male voice that simply asked him, "What did you find?"

"I believe that I might have found a break in our research. However;" Warren added hasitly, "I need some time to do research on another Assassin."

"Do it quickly." Warren's employer demanded before he had a chance to explain why he needed the extra research time.

As soon as the call ended Warren dialed the genealogy department next; by the third ring he began to feel impatient.

"Hello?" a younger voice answered him this time.

"This is Warren Vidic. Is Adam Worrick there?"

"Hold on one moment, sir."

Warren drummed his fingers on the desk as he waited impatiently for Worrik to pick up the damn phone.

He could not get to the phone fast enough.

After what seemed like a precious chunk of time wasted Adam Worrik answered the phone.

"This is Adam Worrik."

"Hello, Doctor Worrik, this is Warren Vidic and I need you and your team to do some research on another Assassin for me."

"Who is it this time?"

"His name is Malik Al Sayf. And if he has any living descendants let me know immediately."

"Alright, we'll get right on it. Good day."

"Thank you." Warren said before ending the call.

He placed his cell phone on the desk before leaning back in his desk chair to give himself a much needed break. He sighed heavily and shut his worn out eyes for a few minutes.

Warren began to pray that the hunch he had would lead him somewhere in the right direction towards solving the mystery behind the Apple.

If Altair's memories would not show them how to use the Apple, then perhaps the memories of Malik would.

 **Thanks for reading and I hope it wasn't a bore. Now I am off to bed because I have work in the morning. See you guys in chapter 2 hopefully!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Welcome back! Okay so I am going to admit this chapter is a little too… "slice of life" yeah that will work. Not my favorite chapter I have ever written, but to get this plot train rolling we all have to read through the less exciting parts, forgive me. Regardless I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!**

Chapter 2:

"Now, Kimmy," A.J said playfully, "If I am going to share my special holiday Oreos with you, you are going to have to eat them right.

First you twist off the top." A.J then demonstrated the delicate art of deconstructing an Oreo to her baby sister, "Then you eat the part of the cookie with little to no cream filling," A.J then popped the less creamy part of the cookie into her mouth and in between chews concluded, "Then you save the creamy part last to savor the artificial flavor."

 **"** Or," Little Kimmy said while dramatically picking up a single Oreo from the packaging. "You can eat them like this." Kimmy then shoved the whole cookie into her mouth and giggled, bits of cookie falling from her mouth as she did so.

"Disrespect my cookies, then you can buy your own." A.J quickly scooped up the package up from the kitchen table and held the cookies aloft over her head to keep them out of reach of the younger girl, who at this point was thrown into a giggle fit as she dashed from her seat and began to jump up in vain to retrieve the cookies.

Her baby sister's plight brought a smile to A.J's lips.

"Will you two keep it down!" Their older brother Matt yelled from the living room, "I'm trying to watch my Christmas movie!"

"Die Hard is not a Christmas movie!" A.J retorted while putting the cookies back down on the table for Kimmy to enjoy.

"It takes place around Christmas," said Matt, "so it counts!"

"How come I don't get to watch Die Hard?" Kimmy asked opening the refrigerator to find some milk to drink along with her cookies.

"Because," A.J explained, "You're seven. Matt is nineteen and I am seventeen, therefore we get to watch the cool movies."

"I thought you had to be eighteen to watch R movies." Said Kimmy with a quirky smirk.

"Smart mouth." A.J growled tickling her, wich sent Kimmy into a frenzy of high pitched giggles.

"Can you at least stop making Kimmy laugh?" Matt called.

"Ever hear of subtitles?" A.J rebutted

"I don't want that garbage taking up the screen!" Matt said disgusted by the idea of using DVD subtitles.

"A.J, I think we're out of milk."

"What? Already?" A.J said not believing her. She hastily walked over to the refrigerator to check and see if Kimmy was just not seeing it. "We literally had two galleons of milk. How can we be- Matt!" A.J called sharply.

"What?"

"Did you drink all the milk?"

There was a brief pause in the air before Matt answered, "Not today."

"Milk hog!" A.J grumbled, pulling Kimmy out of the way in order to shut the fridge door.

"What are we going to do?" Kimmy asked, worry laced in her tiny voice as she follwed her sister out of the kitchen and down the hall. "Santa will be here in two days! And there's no milk!"

"Calm down, Kimmy," A.J spoke calmly as she pulled her winter coat from the hall closet. "I'll just go down to the Corner Market and get some more."

A.J put on her coat before running upstairs to her room to retrieve her wallet, cellphone, and boots. She pulled her phone from the charger and checked the time; 7:00PM. She had plenty of time to get to the store before it closed at nine, and the entire trip down to the store would only take twenty to thirty minutes depending on if she got stuck behind a slow as fuck customer in check out with too many items.

She sent her parents a quick text informing them on where she was going and that she would text them as soon as she got back, before placing the phone in one of the hidden pockets inside her coat.

A.J retrieved her wallet from her bed side dresser and also placed it in a concealed pocket. She also took out her pocket knife and placed it in the front pocket of her coat to give her comfort and security on her walk to the store, and lastly slipped on her Ugg boots before heading back downstairs.

"Alright," A.J announced jumping off the last step. She swung Kimmy up in her arms and carried her to the living room with her.

"I am going to the store," she said as she gently tossed her sister onto the couch next to Matt. "I should be back in a half hour-at most. But until then," A.J grabbed the PS4 controller and shut the movie off.

"Hey!" Matt protested.

"No Die Hard while watching Kimmy."

Matt rolled his eyes, "Sometimes you are worse than mom." He muttered.

A.J ignored him, "Does anybody need anything while I'm at the store?"

"More cookies!" Kimmy demanded then added sweetly, "Please."

Matt took a second to think if there was anything he wanted, "Can you pick me up a can of Pepsi? I'll pay you back when you get home."

"Right. Okay guys, I'll be back as fast as I can. Kimmy you better behave yourself while I'm gone." A.J called back as she headed out the front door.

"I promise I will be!" She heard her sister's response before shutting the door and heading down the street to the Corner Grocer, leaving the two people she called brother and sister behind.

A.J exited the Corner Grocer with a gallon of milk in one hand and a plastic bag containing a package of Oreos and a can of Pepsi in the other.

A.J opted to buy the limited edition mystery flavor Oreos for both Kimmy and herself. She had read an article online that stated that the mystery flavor had been solved, but she still thought it would be fun for Kimmy to try and guess the flavor.

A.J had gotten lucky; the store had been empty, save for one person who had been flipping through a National Geographic in the back area of the store where the magazines were displayed. It had only taken her a total of five minutes to collect her items and check out. She was confident that she was going to make it home in less than thirty minutes. It only took ten minutes to walk to the store, maybe even less if she picked up her pace.

"A.J Lindemann?" An older male voice asked.

The sound of her name being spoken by an unfamiliar voice immediately set A.J on alert. She turned on her heel and scanned her surrounding area, searching for the person who had called out to her, but the sidewalk and streets where devoid of any lifeforms.

"Who the fuck wants to know?" A.J boldly demanded slipping her hand in her coat pocket to get a grip on her pocket knife. "And what the fuck do you want?"

She was ready to abandon her groceries and fight her way out if necessary.

From behind a pair of giant arms grabbed her around the middle, pinning her arms to her sides.

"Mother fuc-hmpf!"

A second appointment had seemed to evaporate from the shadows and covered A.J's mouth and nose with a cloth that smelled faintly like ether.

Her attackers didn't even give her a chance to fight.

In an instant A.J felt drained of all her energy; she could feel her body going limp and her vision began to darken. It wasn't long before she closed her eyes and slipped into blackness.

 **Well that chapter is done! And yes, I was hungry when I wrote out the chapter in its first drafting, and yes it was still Christmas time too. Hope the chapter wasn't too lame for you, and see you in chapter 3 and put this slice of life crap behind us.**


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter…I'm just glad it is written out now. I hope you guys enjoy it and hopefully this story will begin to move along soon. I know where and what I want to write, but you just cant rush things. Enjoy everyone!**

Chapter 3:

A.J awoke to find herself in a brightly lit room; the feel of a stiff mattress and sheets against her body. She pushed herself up slowly into a sitting position and took a look at her surroundings.

The walls of the room were painted a sterile gray and white, reminding her of a room you would find in a hospital. The room even contained the necessities one would find in such a room; a small closet, and a bathroom (that is what A.J assumed and hoped is what lay behind the close door that was located on her right). The only differences between the room A.J found herself in and a typical hospital room was that the room was devoid of an sort of decorative décor, save for the simple writing desk and chair she found on her left, but the biggest difference that A.J noticed was one that sent small jolts of fear down her spine.

The room had no window.

There was no way of telling where in the world she was.

Whoever had abducted her wanted to make sure that there was no chance that she could identify the location.

She could feel her heart flutter widely in her chest, and her body trembled with fear and anxiety. She took a few deep calming breaths and told herself that her abductors had knocked her out before taking her to her present location, and if the crime drama's she occasionally watched were accurate, then that meant her captors intended on keeping her alive.

That slim amount of self reassurance quelled her fears for only a fraction of a second.

 _But how long do they intend on keeping me alive?_ A.J wondered while remembering how some of those crime drama's stories unfolded.

 _What do they want from me?_

The sound of an automatic door opening almost made her jump out of her skin. A new wave of fear took a hold of A.J as she looked over to see who was entering her room, the renewed fear, however, began to slowly dissipate when her eyes landed on a young man standing in the doorway.

She was willing to admit to herself that he was kind of cute. He looked to be about in his early to mid twenties, but his tussled ebony hair made him look a little younger, and from his olive skin tone she could tell that he was of Middle Eastern descent. He wasn't too tall, only a few inches taller than A.J herself who was at most five foot four inches. He had a lean body build as though he ran quite often. But the most charming thing A.J found about him were his eyes; they were a bright hazel color that held a trace of naivety behind their knowledgeable gaze.

As she sat there staring at him she began to chastise herself for acting like a junior high girl when a high school boy would look in her direction.

 _You've just been abducted!_ She reminded herself, _You are possibly looking at one of your captors and all you can think about is that he looks cute! Focus!_

The young man looked at A.J and gave her a warm smile.

 _Oh, fuck it!_ A.J thought as heat rose to her cheeks.

"I am glad to see that you are awake." He spoke with the trace of an accent, "You were out longer than expected. How are you feeling?"

"Fine." A.J answered quickly, her pitch rose an octave higher.

She quickly turned her head away from embarrassment and looked down at her lap. She cringed slightly when she felt her long blond hair spill down over her shoulders and into her face.

A.J had forgotten that she had left the house in her pajama's; she felt like a grungy Raggedy Ann doll with her faded flannel bottoms, and her oversized Sabaton band t-shirt. Not to mention her hair felt like a rat's nest to her.

 _Why the hell am I caring about what I look like now?_

"Are you sure?" he asked her as he crossed the room, "You are still trembling." He pointed out stopping just a few feet away from her, making sure to keep a respectful distance.

A.J thought she detected some concern in his voice, but she assumed it was only her girlish imagination.

"Oh…" was all she could say as she looked down at her twitching fingers.

"Do you feel light headed? Or slightly nauseas?"

 _Is he supposed to be a doctor?_

"No. No." She answered him honestly without meeting his gaze. "Just a little shaky is all."

"Would you like something to eat?"

His question caused her to snap her head up, "Eh?"

She looked at him and wondered what his game was. She couldn't see any signs of underlying motives in his expression, he genuinely seemed concerned for her well being.

"Would you like a snack?" He asked her again.

A.J found her nerve and spoke to him in a clear, strong voice. "I'm sorry, but I've just been kidnapped, and the moment I wake up my captor offers me food. Food, that I have no idea where it came from or what you even did to it. I think I'll pass."

 _Sorry for the curtness. You may be cute, but I don't plan on dying._

He let a nervous laughter escape from his lips before choosing his next words to her.

"I apologize," he spoke sincerely, with a nervousness in his soft tone. "I did not think of what your perspective might be from the offer. Please forgive me."

A.J looked at him and wondered if he was putting on some sort of act.

The fear within A.J had subsided and she now felt as though her mind was in a clear, calm state to asses her situation. She held on to the thought that the man standing before her was putting on an act to earn her trust and blind her of her surroundings, but she did not instinctively feel any sort of threating presence about him.

That did not mean she was going to lower her guard.

"You think you could tell me why I am here?" A.J asked, "And where exactly is here?"

"I cannot tell you the exact location," he said regretfully, "but" he added in the hopes of putting her mind at ease, "I will tell you that you are at one of the Abstergo headquarters."

"Abstergo?" the name sounded vaguely familiar to A.J, "Isn't that some kind of pharmaceutical company?" She asked more to herself.

"Wait," she turned her now heated gaze towards the young man, "Is this some kind of fucked up Nazi experimentation shit that I've been dragged into?"

"No, no, it is nothing like that." He said quickly, raising his hands up in a defensive gesture as though it would keep her anger at him at bay.

"Abstergo is a pharmaceutical company, but they have their hand in many other fields as well." He explained quickly. "But you were not brought her for experimental testing."

"Then why am I here?"

"You were brought here for your memories, Miss Lindemann." A second voice answered her question.

Both A.J and the young man looked over and found an older gentleman standing in the doorway. A serious expression painted on his aged face.

"Or to be more precise," he continued, "your ancestor's memories."

 **And that is chapter 3. Hope you guys enjoyed it and don't be shy about leaving comments. And even though he will most likely never see this I want to thank my boyfriend for being there through my depression. He stuck by me and put up with my b.s and is slowly getting me back on the path of writing again along with doing my other projects that I love to do. Couldn't have asked for a better man. Any way enough with that time for bed, got a long day ahead. Until next time guys.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello everyone! Sorry for the long delay, but I sort of got a promotion at work. I work in child care and I used to help take care of the babies, but my supervisors moved me up and now I teach 2-3 year olds. While the work is fun and rewarding it is still a lot of responsibility and I have been focusing on my work while writing at the same time, and by the time I finish putting everything down on paper the need to get my tablet fired up to type is gone and I go to sleep. But now I am awake and back! Hopefully you guys enjoy this chapter, because while I rewrote the damn thing a million times I still feel eh, about it. Enjoy!**

Chapter 4:

A.J could not believe what she had just heard from the older man's mouth.

She gave the old man an incredulous look, "What the hell did you just say?" she demanded.

"I believe you heard me correctly the first time, Miss Lindemann." He spoke calmly, voicing the seniority in his words as he spoke. "You were brought here for you ancestor's memories."

A.J felt a chill of fear pooling in the pit of her stomach as she looked on at the older man in disbelief.

 _I've bee kidnapped by a fucking nutcase!_

A.J snapped out of her silent startlement, "Just how delusional are you, old man?"

Her words caused the older man to raise an eyebrow at her.

"What in the flying fuck makes you believe that I have any of my ancestor's memories? What? Do you think I just carry them around with me or something? Just how the hell can I have the memories of someone else?"

"The memories were passed down to you, Miss Lindemann," the older man explained. "through genetic inheritance. In a sense, you do technically carry the memoires around with you."

 _What in the fuck…?_ A.J was sure she had been captured by some grade A madman

"You posses the memories of your ancestor within your DNA."

"You're crazy!" A.J shot back.

The insult sounded weak and stupid to A.J, but it was all she had at the moment to keep herself grounded in the insanity that she had so suddenly plummeted into.

"I know it sounds crazy," the younger man jumped in, "but it is possible to genetically inherit the memories of your ancestors'."

 _Ah, fuck! The cute one is insane too._

A.J looked back from one man to the other, feeling like a fool as she did so. She didn't know what to say to either of them. The situation she had stumbled into and the insanity that the two of them were trying to sell to her was enough to make any average person mentally break from it all, but A.J was different.

She breathed deeply through her nose and grasped onto her sanity for dear life.

"Alright," A.J spoke calmly, "I'll play." She knew encouraging their fantasies was not the wisest choice to make, but she wanted to escape from wherever she was being held, and if that meant playing along with the basket cases for a bit then so be it.

"Care to explain these 'ancestral memories'?" A.J asked, "And while you're at it do you mind telling me how you know my name?"

"I suppose your questions are reasonable." Said the older man. "Let's begin with introductions then shall we.

My name is Doctor Warren Vidic, and you have already met my assistant, Asim Hassan." Vidic gestured towards the younger man, who gave A.J a small head nod of acknowledgement.

A.J returned the gesture with a quick glance before turning her attention back to Doctor Vidic.

"And I am going to assume you already know my name." A.J said dryly, already tired of this game.

"Yes, Miss Lindemann," said Vidic nonchalantly , "or would you rather be called by your full name: Anja Lydia Lindemann."

"I prefer to be called A.J."

Vidic looked at A.J in a studious way before nodding and saying, "A.J does suit you more, Miss Lindemann."

A.J only rolled her eyes at Vidic's words, "So, are you going to explain how you got to know my full name?"

"In this day and age, Miss Lindemann, it is quite easy to find anyone." Vidic said with a smile. "However," he added, "You did prove to be quite difficult to find."

"I won't divulge all the details," he added, "but I can tell you that Mr. Hassan and myself work for a company that is very good at tracking people we find of interest down."

"And just what makes me so special that you send a couple of goons to abduct me in the middle of the night?"

"For the simple fact that you are a descendent of the man whom we have been doing research on."

"And let me guess;" A.J cut in, "this is where the ancestral memories come in."

"You'd be correct, Miss Lindemann." Vidic said with a smile.

"You see Miss Lindemann, to make a long story as short as possible my employers asked me to find out some information from a former participant's ancestral memories. We did manage to find the information that we were looking for, but as it turns out the memories were…somewhat faulty."

"Faulty?"

"Yes," Vidic spoke slowly, carefully. He chose his words as to not give out too much information to her. "It seems that we were not getting the full story from the former participant's memoires, and my employers, and myself included, are hoping to get the entire story with your help, Miss Lindemann."

"How would my supposed ancestral memories help you?"

"Because Miss Lindemann," the tone of Vidic's voice reminded A.J of a teacher, paiently explaining a subject matter to a student. "Your ancestor just so happens to have a connection to our former participant's ancestor. I am hoping that your genetic memories will help us find the answers we are looking for."

"And just what is it you're looking for?" A.J gave the older man a somewhat curious glance. She wouldn't admit it but she had to know exactly what was it that these men were chasing after.

Vidic did not respond to her question right away. He did not wish to divulge any further information with the girl, he wasn't even sure if she knew anything at all about her biological family or if she even held any connections to the Assassin's.

"I believe it is best that you don't know, Miss Lindemann."

A.J was about to protest but Vidic cut her off before she even had a chance to open her mouth.

"And before you even complain, or even ask about the former participant let me just tell you right now, Miss Lindemann, the less you know the better."

By the stern look on her face Vidic could tell that he had not convinced her to drop the subject and willingly help them find the answers they needed.

Switching tactics Vidic said, "Think of it this way, Miss Lindemann, the less you know the greater security you give your family."

Vidic smiled inwardly as he saw the look of agitation in her hazel eyes turn to a furious heated gaze at him.

He found his mark.

"You leave my family out of your bullshit." A.J growled, a subtle warning in her voice that told Vidic that if anything happened to her family then she was coming after him.

"Then help me out here," said Vidic, "Think of it like this," he offered, "the faster you help us out the faster you can return to your normal life with the Lindemann's."

"The Lindemann's _are_ my family." A.J stated.

 _So, she knows she's adopted._ Vidic mentally noted, _But is that all she knows?_

"Will you help us then?"

"If it means that I can get out of here faster, then fine, yes. I'll fucking help you out."

"Splendid!" Vidic said a little too cheerfully. "Mr. Hassan and I will give you an hour to yourself to process all that you have just taken in. It is better to begin the process with a clear calm mind." He added as an after thought.

Without another word Vidic turned on heel and began to exit the room, not even bothering to wait for Asim to follow.

Asim, who had been standing and watching the two mentally battle each other for the past ten minutes or so, turned to A.J and spoke with a friendly smile.

"See you within the hour."

"See ya later." A.J mumbled not bothering to even look at Asim.

A.J listened as Asim's footfalls headed for the door, when she heard the automatic doors open and shut she felt like she could breathe a little easier.

A.J had not planned her move to agree and help out Vidic and Asim with their wild goose chase. She only agreed for one reason.

To protect her family.

And if protecting her family meant agreeing to play in their foolish endeavor then so be it. As long as her family was safe and far away from the lunatics that captured her.

 _Now what?_

A.J wasn't sure what her next move would be, but she thought that if she continued to play along with the loons fantasy they would eventually drop their guard and she would then find an opening to escape.

"Should I go and get the animus ready, sir?" Asim asked Vidic.

"Before you do," said Vidic, "there is another assignment that I want you to do for me."

"Oh?" Asim raised a dark eyebrow in interest, "What would that be, sir?"

"I need you to befriend Miss Lindemann. Find out what she knows about her family or the Assassin's."

Asim felt his throat dry up, "What?" he croaked.

A.J had already been put through enough within the last twenty four hours. To build a friendship with a young girl, who was all alone in this situation, then to betray it by feeding detailed information back to his superior seemed like a cruel idea to Asim.

And it was something that he was not willing to do.

Trying to find a way out the horrid plan Asim asked, "Cannot Abstergo do research on the Lindemann family to see if they have any Assassin connections?"

Vidic quickly dismissed the idea, "There has already been a detailed research done on the Lindemann family, and there is nothing tying them to the Assassin's."

"Then there is no need to-"

"There is a need!" Vidic spoke harshly, taking Asim by surprise at the sudden change of mood. "The only thing that I know for sure is that, that girl was adopted at three weeks old with only the barest amount of legal paper work possible. Her real parents did their damnedest to hide her, and I am not about to expose Abstergo by questioning the Lindemann's personally and raising a red flag to the Assassin's.

No matter how tiny the chance is, Hassan, I am not willing to take it. So, befriend the girl and find out what she knows. That is an order, Mr. Hassan."

"I…" Asim wanted to refuse, he truly did, but the cold, dead, and furious gaze in Vidic's cruel eyes caused the fear to grasp at him.

He didn't want to play with A.J's emotions, it felt absurdly wrong to him.

Asim wanted to refuse, he wanted to tell Vidic that he was a horrible man for even coming up with such a plan, but Asim knew the people he worked for and he knew that he had no choice in the matter.

Once an order was given it had to be followed out. No matter how wrong it seemed to be.

"I will do it." Asim agreed with a tremendous heavy heart. He already felt terrible for what he was about to do.

"Excellent!" Vidic said, ignoring Asim's sullen expression, pleased that plans were going his way on a fairly smooth course "Let's get everything ready then, Mr. Hassan."

 **Holy crap! I got this chapter typed up and edited in one evening! I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and don't worry we have one more chapter for part 1 before we get to part 2. Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long. Until then, take care guys and I'll see you in chapter 5.**


	5. Chapter 5

**You know you have done too much research and/or played too much Assassin's creed when you're at work and you tell your class before naptime "goodnight my little novices". Anyway here is chapter 5 I hope you all enjoy it!**

Chapter 5:

A.J was grateful that her earlier assumption about the room on her right being a bathroom; she had spent the better part of about thirty minutes examining the room itself and wondered if it was not some elaborate gas chamber meant to kill her.

The door, of course, was an automatic one but it came with a built in design of locking from the inside to prevent people from barging in on her. She tested the door out to make sure it would not lock her inside and trap her; once she was satisfied knowing that she could control the bathroom lock she turned on the water and tested the shower out, keeping her nose and mouth covered with the neck of her old t-shirt. A.J was happy to see that it was indeed water that came pouring down from the nozzle head and not zyklon B, however, she carefully put her hand under the pouring water to test and see if it was not some sort of acid either. She was happy that her skin did not immediately burn upon contact and breathed a sigh of relief that the room was indeed nothing but a bathroom and not a death trap.

A.J was also grateful that the shower came with some soaps and shampoos for her use as well. While the brands were of a nice quality they just were just scented with the smell of basic soap and nothing else to them. Still, she was not about to complain.

She considered herself lucky that the room was just a bathroom and nothing more.

It only took A.J about fifteen minutes to take a shower; once she was finished she folded her towels and her wash cloth and put them on the metal hanger to allow them to dry. There was a pair of what appeared to look clothes you would find one wearing in a mental ward. A.J ignored their presence and opted to put her own pajamas back on to allow her some small form of comfort in this outlandish situation.

 _Well,_ A.J thought as she brushed the knots out of her hair with the brush she found on the sink (still in it's original packaging). _At least I feel a little human again._

A.J tossed the brush onto the sink before exiting the bathroom.

She looked around the bland room and wondered what she was going to do next.

She walked over to the main door to see if it would open up and allow her to leave, but unfortunately no such luck.

 _Damn it!_ A.J thought as she stomped back to the bed. _They are not fucking around._

A.J collapsed on the bed, but she didn't feel the least bit tired. She thought about making the bed in order to pass the time she had left remaining, but she didn't feel she had an obligation to make a bed that she did not ask to sleep in.

The only thing that A.J wanted to do at that very moment was to go home.

She wanted to eat Oreos with Kimmy and debate about how one should properly eat them. She wanted to play PS4 games with Matt and try to beat his run time in Dark Souls. She wanted to spend some quality time with her mom and dad, and tell them how embarrassing they were at times (even if she did say it with a smile on her face).

She wanted to be with her family, but until these people got what they wanted from her she was trapped.

A.J felt a small amount of pressure building up behind her eyes.

 _Don't you dare cry!_ A.J ordered of herself before rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. _It's not going to help._

The sound of the door sliding open caused A.J to leap up off the bed. Her cheeks flushed when she saw that it was the younger man, Asim, who had entered her room.

Noticing that her eyes were somewhat red and glossy looking Asim asked, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." A.J responded quickly, "I just got some soap in my eyes."

"Oh…"

Wanting to change the subject A.J asked, "What do you want?"

"I just came by to check in on you, and to see how you are."

"I'm fine." A.J could hear how harsh her own voice sounded. Normally she would not apologize for her tone, but once she saw the look of hurt plastered on Asim's adorable face she reluctantly relented.

"Sorry," she said, her tone a little softer, "but I've just been taken away from my family, by a man who says he wants my ancestor's memories. So, I'm a little pissed off at the moment."

"I can understand why you would be upset, but-" The cold hard piercing glare that A.J shot Asim with her dark hazel eyes caused slight chills to go down his backside. It was as though she could see right through him, and it was also unsettling to Asim that her eyes looked downright identical to that of her ancestor's. Almost like the man himself was staring at him and not A.J

 _It is unsettling how her eyes resemble that of her ancestor's._ Asim thought to himself.

" 'but' what?" A.J demanded, "Whatever you have to say, say it then leave."

 _And she sounds like him too when she is angry._

"Nothing." Asim admitted with a sigh.

"Then go."

"Well, I also wanted to check and see if you are ready to begin the process of reliving your ancestor's memories."

"I guess." A.J sighed.

"Follow me then." Asim spoke in a friendly tone of voice.

 _Sorry, but I still don't trust you._ A.J thought as she wordlessly followed Asim out of her room, discretely taking notes on her surroundings for an escape route.

Unfortunatly for A.J they would not be going far.

Asim only led A.J through the door and into the next room, this one with giantic windows allowing the sun to shine through, bringing light into the large area and allowing its occupants a look into the outside world. But the view wasn't what caught A.J's attention, it was the strange looking chair in the center of the room.

"What the hell is that thing?" A.J asked pointing to the chair.

"That 'thing'" said Vidic from behind the computer monitor, "is called an Animus."

"The Animus is what is going to help us read your ancestor's memories." Asim added in.

"Uh huh…"A.J wasn't sure what to say at this point, whatever she had been expecting when she walked out of her room was nothing compared to what she now saw right in front of her.

"Just how does it work?"

"Simple," Vidic answered without taking his eyes off the monitor, "You get in, lie down, and the Animus scans your DNA. From there we can render the genetic memories into a 3-D image. Think of it like a virtual reality game, but a much more unique experience to each user."

"Sure…Is it going to hurt?"

"Not at all." Vidic reassured her, looking up from the monitor. "From what other participants have told us it is like a heated car seat."

"Ok, then…" A.J looked from the Animus back to the two men, and began to wonder if what the two of them were telling her was the actual truth and not some made up delusions of a mad man.

"Are you ready to begin, Miss Lindemann?" Vidic asked.

A.J took a quick moment to think; she wasn't sure if she was willing to crawl into a machine she had never even heard of before, but she also didn't want to know what they would do if she refused.

But there also was a very small part of A.J that was curious to see if the machine could actually show her the memories of an ancestor of hers.

"Do I even have a choice?" said A.J as she climbed up into the Animus.

She laid back down in the Animus and felt that same uneasy feeling she felt whenever she went to see the dentist. The feeling of being exposed and defenseless.

"Arms down, Miss Lindemann."

Instinctively A.J had folded her hands over her stomach.

"Sorry," A.J said as she lowered her arms to her sides. "Force of habit."

"We are going to be starting you off on a memory that comes close to the memory we need." Said Asim.

"Why?" A.J asked, panicking that she wasn't going to get out of this place faster than she originally had hoped. "Why not just go to the memory you need?"

"We need to ease you into the process," Asim explained, "if we just threw you into the memory we need your mind might reject the synchronization and end the process before it begins."

"I know it's an inconvince, Miss Lindemann." Said Vidic, "But with the results we've had with past participants it is easier and safer to begin reliving the memories that led up to the events we needed than to be tossed right into them."

"Fine." A.J huffed "Let's just get this over with. I want to go home and soon."

"Then let's get started."

A.J felt her backside immediately warm up and assumed the DNA scanning had begun.

Before continuing the process Asim checked A.J's vitals on a separate computer monitor and noticed that her heart rate had increased slightly.

"Try to relax, A.J." Asim advised her, "It will make the synchronization process easier to handle in a calm state of mind."

"Easier said than done." A.J smirked.

 _Alright,_ A.J told herself as she took a deep calming breath, _focus. Focus._

Satisfied that her heart rate was now at a normal level Asim and Vidic continued the process.

"Get ready, Miss Lindemann." Said Vidic as a visor fell over A.J's eyes. "You are about to relive your ancestor's memories."

 _Let's do this._ A.J closed her eyes and took one last calming breath before the process began.

When A.J opened her eyes she found herself in the memory of that of her ancestor, Malik Al Sayf.

"Amazing!" A.J breathed before succumbing to full synchronization.

 **If you had made it this far, then congratulations! You made it through Part 1! Now I am going to sleep, because it is 2 30 in the morning. See you in Part 2!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Alright everyone we have arrived at part 2, no doubt this is the part you wanted *shakes head at owns stupidity*. Well anyway let's get on with this because I have work in the morning and this week is going to be insane…**

 **I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!**

Part 2: Memories

Chapter 6:

With practiced, silent footfalls, Malik followed Altair. His attention and senses split between his surroundings beneath the catacombs of Solomon's Temple and that of his younger brother, Kadar, who followed behind both men closely.

Suddenly Altair stopped and held up his left hand, with out using words to command the two brothers to halt and to remain silent.

Malik took the moment to look back at his brother; he noticed that his eyes were wide with anticipation, excited at what was to be coming next. He could tell right away that Kadar's senses were not focused on his present surroundings, a trait that Malik had chastised Kadar for time and time again.

 _"You need to focus on the present moment, Kadar"_ Malik had always advised his little brother, _"If you spend too much time anticipating the future you will miss what is right in front of you."_

 _"Yes, brother, I know"_ is what Kadar would always say back to him, a tiny smile on his lips, the sign that he was secretly laughing at him for his worry.

Sometimes Malik would reply with _"Then put your words into practice, Kadar"_ and sometimes he would lightly smack the back of Kadar's head for his childish behavior, then it would be his turn to inwardly laugh at his brother.

The soft murmurings of a Christian prayer snapped Malik out of his brotherly distraction.

Silently, Malik edged closer and saw an old man kneeled to the ground and head bent low in piety. Clearly he was no great threat, but he had to be dealt with a temporary solution in order for their presence to remain undetected.

The soft _snick_ of Altair's hidden blade told Malik that the elder Assassin had already decided the fate of the old man.

"Wait!" Malik hissed grabbing Altair's blade arm, "There must be another way. This one need not die."

Altair disregarded his words and roughly shrugged off Malik's grasp before plunging his blade into the neck of the old man. Silencing him for good.

Horrified, Malik watched as Altair took the life of an innocent. He grounded his teeth, furious that a Master Assassin had just tossed aside one of the tenants of their Creed: "Stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent."

"An excellent kill!" Malik heard Kadar gush, "fortune favors your blade."

"Not fortune, skill." Malik could hear the arrogance drip from Altair's voice, "Watch awhile and you might learn something."

"Indeed," Malik spoke looking down at the old man, silently apologizing for his early death and for his comrades cold careless manner before turning his eyes to Altair. Giving the man an accusatory stare. "He'll teach you to disregard everything that Master has taught us."

Altair narrowed his eyes at Malik, "How would _you_ have done it then?" he challenged.

"I would not have drawn attention to ourselves." Malik's answer was honest even if he was unsure of how he would have handled the old man. "I would not have taken the life of an innocent." he fixed Altair with a heated gaze that told of his resentment towards his superior.

"It matters not how we complete our task." Said Altair, "Only that it is done."

"But this is not the way-"

"My way is better." Altair declared.

The two men stared daggers at each other, the anger within both of them radiated off of them making the emotion visible for all to see.

From the corner of his eye Malik could see the look of panic and worry edged on Kadar's face, no doubt he was worried about the conflict between him and Altair growing into something worse.

"I'll scout ahead." Malik said in order to put an end to their squabble. "Try not to dishonor us any further."

Malik indulged himself in the smallest of smirks as he saw the look of shock and disbelief flash before Altair's golden eyes for his insolent remark.

The man may have been a Master Assassin and Malik's superior, but that did not mean he gave the man his respect for his title alone. The words he spoke and the actions he chose showed what kind of man Altair was.

An arrogant man.

A man whom Malik had no respect for.

Malik sprinted ahead of the two; he could hear his brother asking Altair what their mission was, but he could not hear Altair's response. Meaning that Altair did not say or he kept his voice quieter than Kadar's. Malik knew his brother was young, but if he did not master the art of stealth and discretion he was going to find his blood spilled on a mission one day.

Realizing his mind was becoming distracted by thoughts of Kadar's minor faults, he quickly turned his mind back to the focus of the mission at hand. He would have to speak to Kadar about his subpar assassination skills later.

The subtle sound of boots treading across the sandy ground caused Malik to stop in his tracks and listen carefully. He took a defensive stance, and he felt his heart beat increase from the nervousness he felt as he braced himself for who was to come.

His stance relaxed when he saw that it was only Kadar running to catch up with him.

 _At least he is trying to be discreet now._ Malik thought as he waited for his brother to join him.

The two brothers' waited momentarily for Altair to catch up with them. When Altair did catch up with them he sprinted past them as though they were not there, but not before giving Malik a quick and discreet shove that could have easily been seen as an accident.

But Malik knew better.

Altair shoved him on purpose to remind Malik of his rank and place with him.

The low guttural growl that emitted from Malik's throat caused concern from his brother.

"Calm yourself, brother." Kadar pleaded. "Now is not the time to quarrel amongst ourselves."

Kadar raised an excellent point, but his anger towards the man who believed himself above everyone, including his brothers' within the Order, caused a furry to stir around within Malik that he could not seem to calm.

"His arrogance is going to cost lives one day." Malik growled.

"Malik?"

Malik took a deep calming breath, settling the furry within him as best as he could. For Kadar's sake.

"It is like you said, Kadar," Malik spoke calmly now, "now is not the time for us to quarrel amongst ourselves."

Kadar looked at his brother with a mixture of confusion and worry.

"We will discuss things later when we return to Masyaf, but for now Master has given us an order and we need to carry it out."

Without another word Malik turned from his brother and climbed up the ladder that led to the inner most part of the temple. As he reached the top he heard the muffled cries of someone who had most likely met their end by Altair's blade. Malik's assumption had been correct; he peeked his head up and found the deceased body of a Templar guard lying motionless at Altair's feet.

When Malik reached the top he motioned To Kadar to climb up and join them. Once Kadar reached the top the three men walked stealthily into the upper chamber of Solomon's Temple.

Unprepared for what awaited for them inside.

 **And so ends another chapter! Hope you guys enjoyed it and I hope to see you in chapter 7! Take care and goodnight!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey everyone! I do not have much to say, so let's dive in shall we. Thanks for the comments, and Happy Father's Day! Alright, I hope you enjoy chapter 7!**

Chapter 7:

When the three Assassin's entered into the temple's upper chamber they were unprepared for what they witnessed next.

"Care to explain why it is not working?" A male voice coated with a French accent roared.

"Robert de Sable!" Altair hissed, "His life is mine."

From the corner of his eye Malik could see that Altair was about to drop below to bring death upon their enemy. He quickly grabbed Altair by his upper arm and demanded that he wait.

Altair opened his mouth to protest, but was interrupted by Robert's shouts of frustration.

"Answer me!"

Malik, Altair, and Kadar crouched down low to avoid being spotted; all three of them looked down into the chamber and saw not only Robert, but four Templar guards, and the person to whom Robert had been shouting at. A young, frail girl dressed in nothing but what looked like rags with long dingy, yellow hair that hung over her face.

And what was worst was that Robert appeared to be holding the treasure to which the three had been sent to retrieve within his right hand.

Malik cursed under his breath at their predicament.

"God damn it!" Robert roared directly right into her face as he shook her roughly with his left hand, "Do I have to beat the answers out of you?"

The girl said not a word, she did not even flinch as Robert continued to shout at her.

"Speak! You miserable, piece of shit!"

When the Templar leader finally stopped shaking the girl she raised her head up slightly to meet Robert's cruel gaze.

"The power you seek," she spoke in a calm, cool manner, but her voice was strong enough that every man in the room could hear her. "is one that will destroy you. And while I relish at the thought of your corpse at my feet, I will never reveal its secrets to you."

Robert briefly looked as though she had struck him across the face.

Malik admired the amount of courage she displayed; if she felt any sort of fear she did well at hiding it. Even when Robert gnashed his teeth and twisted his face up into an ugly scowl that was made to instill some fear into her, and out of fury at her disobedience.

"Insolent brat!" He screamed before pushing her away from him.

She made not a sound as she landed on her rear. It was as if she had known that Robert was going to toss her to the ground.

Robert turned his back on her and walked away from her. He grabbed one of his men by the front of their gambeson jacket and shoved them in the direction of the girl.

"Guard her!" He ordered as the Templar subordinate regained his balance, "And God help you if you allow her to escape!"

The guard ran over quickly to the girl and jerked her up roughly by the arm. Once she was up on her feet the guard held onto her upper arm tightly. Determined not to let her escape.

"That girl knows about the treasure?" Kadar asked in a surprised tone of voice.

"It would appear so." Malik replied quietly as he looked back from the girl to Robert and his men.

"What now, sir?" One of the guards asked Robert.

"Search the area." Robert ordered as he placed the treasure down onto the work bench that contained some parchment writings. "See if you can find anything that can tell us how this Piece of Eden works."

The three remaining guards scattered throughout the chamber and searched for any clue that would tell them and their leader about the mysteries of the strange looking orb.

"Once we find out how this Piece works," Robert continued, "we won't be in need of the girl anymore."

Robert gave the girl a long menacing sideways glance, "If you value you your life," he added in a threating tone, "you might want to speak up now."

Unaffected by Robert and his tactics to try and scare her the young girl spoke up once again in that same strong voice.

"You'll find nothing."

"You seem so sure, girl." Robert sneered.

"I alone carry the secrets of the Piece of Eden with me, and once I die so too will the secrets."

"We shall see!" Robert tore his gaze away from her and instead watched his men search the room for any trace of evidence left behind that would revel the secrets of the Piece of Eden.

"What do we do now?" Kadar asked, looking at Altair and Malik for guidance.

"We end de Sable's life." Altair said

"No." Malik spoke up, having enough of Altair's reckless decisions. "We were told to retrieve the treasure and deal with Robert _only_ if necessary."

"He stands between us and it." Altair impatiently pointed out, "I'd say it's necessary."

"Desecration, Altair."

"You mean cowardience! That man is our greatest enemy. And here we are with a chance to be rid of him."

"You have already broken two tenants of our creed." Malik told him disappointedly, "Now you would break a third? 'Do not compromise the brotherhood'."

Altair finally snapped, "I am your superior! In both title and ability."

Not wanting to allow Malik the chance to question his authority any further, Altair turned his back on the brothers and started to descended down into the camber to confront Robert and his men.

Malik's hands balled up into tight fists and he grounded his teeth so hard that he felt a tinge of pain begin to stab him in the jaw.

"Arrogant bastard!" He growled deeply in his throat.

"M-Malik?"

Remembering his younger brother, Malik let some of his anger directed towards Altair to slip away and directed his attention to Kadar.

Malik could see the distress in his brother's soft young eyes.

"Kadar," Malik spoke as an older brother and as a higher ranking Assassin, "stay close to me."

"Y-Yes, brother."

"Focus." He reminded Kadar, "And do not drop your guard for a moment."

Kadar nodded his head, "Understood."

Forgoing the ladder that had been propped up against the wall for easy access, Malik and Kadar leapt down into the chamber in order to catch up with Altair.

They were not far behind when Altair's voice rang out loudly throughout the room. His tone commanding all to listen.

"Hold Templars!" All five men ceased what they were doing and turned their attention to the three interlopers. The young girl, who at this point had remained detached and emotionless had looked upon the three Assassin's with unexpected surprise at their unannounced presence in the temple.

"You are not the only ones with business here."

Malik took a quick, discreet, survey of their surroundings and noticed that the guards who had been ordered to search the chamber were now slowly closing in on them.

For the briefest of seconds Malik wondered if Altair had noticed the threat that surrounded them or not, but it soon became clear to Malik that Altair was blinded by his own arrogance and ambition to defeat Robert.

"And what is it you want?" Robert snarled, already tired of their intrusion.

Altair answered Robert as he activated his hidden blade, "Blood."

Without warning Altair sprinted towards Robert.

"No!" Malik made to stop Altair before his recklessness could ruin them.

But he was not fast enough.

Him and his brother watched as Robert easily side stepped Altair's telegraphed charge. The Templar Grand Master struck Altair across the face hard before clutching onto his blade arm with one had while the other gripped at his throat.

"You know not the things you meddle in Assassin." Robert warned giving Altair's throat a tight squeeze causing the man to gasp for some air to breathe. "I spare you only to deliver a message to your Master; tell him that 'the Holy Land is lost to him and his.' He should flee now while he still has the chance. Stay and all of you will die."

Without much effort Robert threw Altair from the room. Sending the Assassin from the room, and crashing into the supporting beams that caused the ancient stones of the archway to collapse. Separating him from his two comrades' and blocking, what was no doubt, an easier escape route out of the temple.

 _Damn it!_ Malik thought angrily.

He looked around and noticed that three of the guards closing quickly in on them. He also noticed that while Kadar stood with a strong defensive stance he saw a slight tremble in his brother's legs.

 _Stay strong, brother._

Malik slowly inched his way closer to Kadar to give him the reassurance that he was not alone in this fight, and that his brother was here by his side.

Turning his attention to the two remaining Assassin's Robert ordered, "Men! To arms! Kill the Assassin's!"

Malik and Kadar unsheathed their swords and braced themselves for the fight that was about to come.

 _Altair!_ Malik thought furiously, keeping his eyes focused on the approaching enemy. _If I make it out of here alive, I swear I am going to kill you!_

 **And that is the end of chapter 7! This chapter was my least favorite to write only because I had so much trouble with describing what was going on, so I hope it didn't suck (laughs at self). I do hope you guys enjoyed chapter 7 and I will see you in chapter 8! (Heads up chapter 8 might take longer to post and you will find out why in the next chapter). Take care until then guys!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey everyone! Sorry for what seems like a long delay, but you would not believe the amount of work that went into this chapter. Hopefully all the hard work paid off and I hope this chapter is not a disappointment. Alright on with the story, enjoy!**

Chapter 8:

Malik held his sword up at mid guard and locked his gaze on the first Templar guard who approached him, matching his guard.

 _I only have two options._ Malik thought strategically as the first Templar approached him slowly. _Either I meet him blow for blow first or…_

"I'll make your death a quick one." Said Malik's first opponent.

Malik took advantage of the man's misgivings about him and bolted quickly in to attack. The steel from the two swords barely clanked against each other as Malik used his blade to swiftly push his enemies blade out of his way, then using a thrust ran his sword straight through the over confident man's chest.

He barely took notice of the nameless Templar's look of disbelief as he withdrew his sword from the man and watched him sink to the ground.

 _Too slow._

"Son of a whore!" Another Templar yelled; this one came charging at Malik with his sword held up at high guard.

 _Shit!_ Malik quickly side stepped the man's brutal attack, narrowly escaping being chopped in half.

Acting on years of practice and survival instinct Malik brought his own sword above his head and like his second opponent swung downward in a chopping motion, the only difference was that Malik hit his mark and the second Templar's hands were severed from his arms.

The stunned man barely had enough time to scream out in agony before Malik silenced him by plunging his hidden blade directly into the side of the man's neck, allowing for a somewhat quick and painless death.

"Agh!"

The sound of Kadar's cry made Malik's heart stop beating for a second. He feared the worst when he looked over in the direction to which he heard Kadar cry out and relief flooded through him, bringing his heart back to life, to see his brother still alive and standing.

Where as Malik's opponents were of average height and build Kadar's opponent was much taller and heavier set. Instead of using trained moves the giant of a man used his strength alone to swing his sword at Kadar, who had managed to block the giant's every strike, but he was still being driven back from the force of each blow.

"Is that all you got, little boy?" The giant Templar sneered as he swung his massive sword once more at Kadar.

Kadar managed to block the attack, but the force from the strike had knocked his sword from his hand, sending it several feet away from him and leaving Kadar open and defenseless.

"Pathetic." The man said bringing his sword up high above his head to deliver the killing blow.

Malik was ready to rush in and give aid to his brother but Kadar had surprised both Malik and the third Templar when he quickly threw one of his throwing knives directly at the man, lodging the blade of the knife into the man's left eye.

The unexpected attack caused the Templar to drop his sword; he clutched at his head and screamed out in pain.

"You little rat!" he screamed at Kadar.

Kadar did not waste time; he threw another knife at the man, this one embedding itself deep into the upper left thigh muscle. Another cry of pain spewed from the man's mouth as he dropped down to one knee; that is when Kadar decided to take advantage of his opponent's weakening state. He rushed at the man and threw a third knife at him this time he was able to make a mark out of the Templar's right hand, and Kadar was rewarded with another scream of pain before he leapt at the man and tackled him down to the ground.

"No! No! No!" The third Templar cried out as Kadar brought out his fourth throwing knife. "Mercy!" he screamed as Kadar plunged the knife deep into the man's meaty throat.

He pulled the knife out of the man's throat immediately, ending their fight with a quick death.

Malik didn't get the chance to fully admire his young brother's resourcefulness and skills as an Assassin. A cry bellowed through out the entire room catching those who were still alive attention.

"You little bitch!" Malik and Kadar looked over and found the fourth and final Templar guard standing in shocked pain while clutching his bloody nose with both hands. It appeared as though the young girl had managed to hit the guard and did quite some damage to him.

"Fucking whore!" he screamed after her as she ran swiftly away from her captors, nearly knocking Malik over in the process of her impromptu escape.

"You idiot!" Robert yelled at his last man, "Don't let her escape!"

Distracted by the fleeing girl Malik didn't even notice the Templar heading his direction until the man had knocked Malik out of his way, throwing him off balance and sending him to the ground.

"Malik!" he heard Kadar's voice ring out with worry.

 _Idiot!_ Malik berated himself for the foolish mistake he had made as he got back on his feet.

Kadar, who's anger towards that particular guard had increased after bringing harm to his brother, gave chase after the guard with the intent of ending his life and rescuing the girl while he was at it.

Malik was ready to go after them and assist his brother, but a malicious voice kept him in place.

"I'll deal with you myself, Assassin!"

Malik looked over his shoulder and saw Robert quickly approaching him; with a sword in his right hand and a vicious snarl on his face.

 _Shit!_

Quickly, Malik brought his sword up and pivoted on the balls of his feet. He had hoped he could end Robert's life here and now with a quick stab to the chest, but just as Malik twisted his whole body around to face Robert he saw a look in the man's eyes that Malik knew too well.

Robert had predicted his movements.

Just as Malik thrusted his sword forward and out Robert had easily side stepped to his right avoiding his attack.

 _Shit!_ Malik thought as Robert brought his sword up and swung it in an arching motion

Malik tried to pull back in order to avoid the downward slash of Robert's sword, but he wasn't quick enough.

Malik screamed out in intense pain as the blade from Robert's sword tore through his skin and muscle, leaving him a deep and gruesome cut on his left arm.

 _Fuck!_ Malik gnashed his teeth together; the stinging pain from Robert's strike made his entire left arm feel as though it were on fire.

He did his best to hold onto his sword with both hands, but the appendage dropped to his side making it all but useless.

Malik staggered slightly as he backed away from Robert to recalculate his strategy, but the Templar leader only advanced forward. Robert brought his sword back up for another downward strike, but Malik had managed to bring his sword up with one hand and was able to block the attack. He could feel his right arm muscles strain as he tried to push Robert back off of him. A sudden pain blossomed through Malik's abdomen, and he was sent flying back. He had assumed Robert had kicked him and had not only managed to knock the wind from Malik's lungs, but the sword from his hand as well.

"I grow tired of this game, Assassin!" Robert said as he began advancing towards Malik.

Malik tried to push himself up on to his feet, but the pain in his arm prevented him from doing so. He had managed to make it on to his knees when a bolt of heated pain shot through his left arm and he instinctively held on to his wounded arm.

"Your life ends. Now!"

From seemingly out of nowhere a throwing knife flew by Robert's face, grazing his left cheek.

Robert growled in annoyance as he looked up to see who had thrown the knife, and Malik's heart sank in his chest when he looked over to see Kadar standing a few feet away.

He stood with his fifth and final throwing knife in one hand while taking a defensive stance. His eyes full of fire as he set his sights on Robert.

Malik had no doubt that Kadar had managed to kill the last Templar guard on his own, as for the whereabouts of where the girl had gone Malik did not care at that moment. He didn't even care about the treasure, the reason they were in the temple to begin with, all Malik cared about at that moment was getting his brother out of temple alive. Even if that meant he wouldn't be.

"Kadar!" Malik called out, gripping his injured arm tightly, "Leave! Now!"

"Not without you, brother." Said Kadar.

Malik loved his little brother and was touched both as a brother of blood and a brother in arms that Kadar refused to leave him behind.

Kadar was a skilled Assassin, Malik saw that, but if both Altair and himself, two high ranking and skilled Assassin's, could not defeat Robert on their own then young Kadar did not have a sliver of a chance.

Malik would rather have his brother leave him for dead than watch him get torn apart by Robert.

"Kadar!" Malik warned him.

"If you think you can defeat me with just that knife alone, boy." Robert challenged as he stepped around Malik to face Kadar, "Then have at it."

With fire in his eyes and anger fueling his senses Kadar charged straight for Robert, ready to kill him, but his furry had blinded him from seeing past Robert's relaxed stance, but Malik had noticed what Robert was doing.

Robert did not hold a relaxed stance he was holding his sword at low guard, luring Kadar in with falsehood, and Kadar had taken the bait.

Malik called out desperately to Kadar hoping that he would hear his warning, "No! Wait! Kadar, he is deceiving you!"

Kadar did not hear his brother's warning as he brought his right arm up, ready to strike Robert.

What happened next flashed by within seconds, but for Malik it felt as if the scene had slowed down in order to engrave it perfectly into his memory.

As soon as Kadar closed the gap between him and Robert, Robert quickly raised his sword up and thrusted it through Kadar's exposed chest. The blade exiting out his back. Malik could see the pain from Robert's attack wrap itself around Kadar, he even saw the light begin to fade away from his young eyes as Robert withdrew his blade from Kadar's body.

"Fool." Robert muttered as Kadar sank down to his knees.

Malik watched helplessly as his brother began to fall over; both brother's eyes sought out each other and silently called out to one another. Malik swore that he could hear his name being whispered in the still air right before Kadar's body hit the ground, the blood pouring from his wound stained the ground a deep and sorrowful crimson.

"Kadar!"

 **And end scene! I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and I hope it was not terrible since this was the first fight scene I have written in years, and I always thought I was terrible at writing them. Fun fact though; my boyfriend actually helped me with the sword play in this chapter and even helped choreographed some of the moves that were used in this chapter my favorite being the spin that Malik used (which failed for him). Alright I hope you guys liked it and I will see you in the next chapter!**


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